"These two are two of my top officers. If you question them, then you question me. I understand that the chain of command and loyalty to duty and one's commander is important to Romulan culture is it not? Then I expect you to treat each member of this department with the same respect and honor you would have them treat you."

"Commander the chain of command, loyalty, duty and honor are important to the Romulan people. I also want to have people that understand this about my people and that I am not going to be disobeying my orders from my senior officers and I understand that this a Starfleet Ship and I will treat them with respect but they must understand that they are not going to be allowed any slack in this duty, Commander. I hope you all understand everyone?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen, why not let the CO decide the final outcome " Harry suggested.

"Commander Marcus, if you have a moment, can I speak with you?" Lieutenant Dlya stood up as he sensed the conversations drawing to a close.

<End Snip>

Dylan nodded. He waited for the rest of the Officers to file out after being dismissed. "What can I do for you Runo?" he asked.

Runo waited until all of the other assembled officers left before turning to his chief. "Permission to speak freely sir?"

Dylan nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you sir." Relaxing his stance slightly, his brown eyes flared a moment before settling down. "As much as I appreciate the vote of confidence, I feel that you should appoint a different assistant chief. I've had my fair shares of screw-ups lately and although you may be confident in my potential, I am truly not after your job as you asked earlier."

Dylan looked at Runo a little bit shocked. He was one of Dylan's best men. If anyone deserved recognition, it was him. "May I ask what made you come to this choice?" he asked the man. "I have every confidence in you, that is why I considered you for the position. In essence your duties would remain the same, or would you rather keep yourself out of the Captain's line of fire?" he asked with a grin.

Runo allowed a small smile to spread across his face as well. "A little bit of both sir. I prefer not to draw attention to myself but I haven't been able to live up to that requirement lately have I?" The question was more rhetoric than not.

Dylan shook his head. He knew the benefits of keeping a low profile around the Captain. "No not really" he said referring to Runo's rhetorical question. "The job really is pretty much what you do already. the only catch is that you have a bit more flexibility in your duty shifts. Something that I'm sure Indira would appreciate." he said with a smile.

Runo opened his mouth to reply but closed it when he caught the knowing grin on the commander's face. He laughed a moment before nodding. "I didn't realize that I was under that scrutiny before Commander. I'll make sure to choose who I spend my time with more wisely then." The comment was sarcastic but in a well meaning way, no disrespect or hard feelings intended, it was accompanied by a smile. "Thank you for listening sir but I actually have some reports that I need to finish. They had been ... postponed for later."

"I don't keep that much of an eye on My officers." Marcus said with a grin. "But you Know how gossip travels at warp 9 on a starship." He paused and chuckled, knowing that Runo was in good humor when he made his comment. "By all means I won't keep you. The ever growing stack of paper work must be signed; Dismissed." he said with grin.